The Sound of the World
by roberre
Summary: 100 word drabbles. Currently, 30. Chapter 1: Ben Barker Era. Chapter 2: Interim Years. Chapter 3: Newly Reunited. Chapter 4: Power Struggle Based on and titled by iTunes shuffle.
1. Chapter 1

Tuesday's Child – Jesse Cook

He was born on a Tuesday.

He doesn't know exactly what year, because the records in his memory were chiselled out long ago. Rubbed and scratched and pounded into dust, by the scourge of the whip, and the constant reminder that he has no identity and no name, that he was never born. Or if he was born, in another world beyond the sea on a Tuesday, it was simply a terrible mistake.

Benjamin Barker curls further into the corner, shirt hanging around him in rags, stones buried in his cuts. He knows - he prays - he'll be dead by Tuesday.

* * *

It Snowed – Meaghan Smith

The dreary winter mornings come too early for Benjamin's taste. But he supposes it's his own fault for starting his own establishment. He needs to build the fire. He needs to sharpen his razors, sweep the floors once again, take inventory, and try to catch the custom of the early rising dock workers. He ties his scarf around his neck, buttoning his jacket, and steps outside into a blizzard. A minute later, he's back inside. "I'll have to stay in today."

On the bed, Lucy smiles. "In that case, I believe I shall add snow to my nightly prayers. Permanently."

* * *

Let Us Love – Needtobreathe

Ben Barker walks into her pie shop, every day, with a smile on his face.

A smile. Every day.

And just about as often, she wants to grab him by the collar, shake him till his head breaks clean off, and ask him if he realizes the world is a bloody miserable place. She wants to see his face fall for a moment, his eyes lose their sparkle... because then he'd just be a man, imperfect, inadequate, like the rest of them.

She wants to ask– except she figures she knows the answer already.

He knows. He just doesn't care.

* * *

False Pretense – Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

After nine months obtaining life, and three months desperately trying to hold onto it, a tiny coffin is little Oliver Lovett's only reward. He was chubby like his father, until the sickness set in, but he was as loud as his mother until the day he died.

Albert doesn't think the tear stains will ever vanish from his shirt. Scarlet rivers of blood are easier to remove than memories. He kisses Nellie's hair.

She sniffles. "Go ahead and open shop. I'll be fine, love."

"No masks, Nellie. Not with me."

Her mouth says she's fine. Her eyes say she died.

* * *

Dance Into the Night – Carlos Santana feat. Chad Kroeger

The first time Ben met her, she was a demon of the dance, skirts pulled up to her knees, her feet blazing hellfire across the table. Even the fiddles and pipes, wielded by the most formidable Irish musicians, struggled to keep up with her - with the way her skirts lashed her legs and the way her hair twirled around her face. The first time he met her, she was an angel, and he was entranced. The first time he met her, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

The second time he met her, she was Mrs. Lovett.

* * *

Float On –Modest Mouse

Benjamin Barker wondered if he was the only man in existence who shouted at Judge Turpin and lived to tell the tale. The pompous git deserved it, almost running him over in the streets. The carriage stopped a moment after, and the judge stepped out. Ben was still seeing red. His head wasn't clear. He demanded an apology. But the Beadle just stepped in and gave him a shove down the road – told him to mind his tongue.

Sometimes everything turned out fine, after all.

He realized later that he walked home with a string of pearls in his pocket.

* * *

Eet – Regina Spektor

Lucy forgot.

She had sworn she wouldn't turn out like her mother, with a memory like a sieve, but it had happened. And at only twenty-three. She forgot her child's name. Not entirely - and not for long. Such a thing occurred often enough in her childhood. But the senior Mrs. Cromwell had raised six children. Lucy only had to deal with one.

She was exhausted, after all, and

worn down to the nerves from crying.

She sighed, and rocked the baby. Johanna screamed in her ear.

"Ben-Eleano-Alb... Johanna, will you please be quiet!"

Perhaps it was just a mother thing.

* * *

Salt in the Snow – The Classic Crime

In moments like this, Lucy would usually crawl to her husband, seek shelter in the warmth of his arms and the quiet of his voice. But her husband was gone, forever, and there was no warmth, or quiet, only dissonant strains of violins and the cry of hardened laughter in her ears. And she had never experienced a moment like _this_. Not even close. Now she had nothing. So she drank her troubles away from a bottle of arsenic.

Poison.

Although, Eleanor had hired a coach to take her home from Turpin's.

Poison.

And she had a baby.

Too late.

* * *

On Fire - Switchfoot

When Albert looks at her, corners of his mouth curled up, sometimes she loves him, and sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes her skin flushes pink, like a schoolgirl with a fancy on the boy next to her, and sometimes not.

When Benjamin looks at her, she worries her soul might catch ablaze, and her face burns red as her hair.

Ben doesn't quite define her. But he could, given the chance. So she keeps her guard up whenever she begins to think of him, and prays to forget him even as she yearns to remember.

She was never much for praying.

* * *

In My Arms – Snow Patrol

When Lucy and Benjamin were first married, he was terrified that she would somehow break. That he would break her, simply by touching her. Albert was never exactly _terrified_ he would break Nellie, although the thought had crossed his mind occasionally. He was very tall (and eventually large), and she was very small. If he ever mentioned it, she would have laughed at him.

In the end, Lucy shattered, but not by Benjamin's hand, and Nellie was worn down to her unbreakable bones. She lived long enough to love a man who liked – who needed – to break things. And then she burned.

* * *

**A/N:** So, I'm finished school for the semester. And I hurt my knee pretty badly during hockey, so I've been unable to work for the past few weeks, and I'm still on the mend. That equals a decent amount of spare time. And it's Christmas. Which means presents. And the combination of all those factors means that I have written these 10 drabbles! They're dedicated to all my readers, and there are ten of them, so you can squabble and claim them for yourselves. Haha. Anyways, each of them are 100 words exactly (although my word count decided randomly that dashes and brackets counted as words... which they don't...) so some of them read as 102 or such in a word counter. They're all set during the Ben Barker era, because there are some amazing ST drabbles out there and I didn't want to step on toes, and they were all based off of whatever song came up on my iTunes on shuffle. I did skip some songs, and I was a little selective that way, but I pretty much just shuffled it and if it sparked an idea, or if it sounded nice, I used it. And I may or may not write more, depending on how I feel. If I ever write more drabbles in the future, I'll still use this story, but I'll just make a new chapter.

Also, if you want, I wrote a short story for a gianthugetastic project I had to do for Fine Arts, and I turned it into a neat audiobook thing with music, and it ended up really epic, IMHO. So if anyone wants to hear it, please let me know, and I'll send you the link. It's 15 minutes long.

ANYWAYS. I hope you all enjoy. Merry Christmas! (And if you don't celebrate Christmas, I wish you an EXCELLENT holiday too! 8D) I love you guys!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Okay, I know that everybody and a half is doing these, but truthfully, I started my first one JUSTTTT before the big rush and always planned on writing more. So I'm sorry if everybody's sick of drabbles by now, but too bad. Haha. My first drabbles were during the Ben Barker era, and these ones are during the fifteen interim years. I figured it'd be interesting. I'll probably end up continuing this chronological type-trend to the end, eventually. Also, these were based on shuffled songs, but they're not written in the time period of the song. I took as long as I felt like, and they're all 100 words. Anyways. Here you are. ^^ Enjoy.

* * *

Vanilla Twilight – Owl City

Nellie sits at one of the tables on the patio, still wearing her mourning dress, and stares up at the sky. The summer day had been smoggy and muffled, with air as thick as stew, but the night is cool and she can see the distant gleam of stars. She takes another sip of brandy, straight from the bottle. Albert's up there somewhere, smiling down at her with a twinkle in his eyes like the day they were first married.

She wishes she was thinking of him.

But her thoughts rest across the sea, because – unlike Albert – Benjamin's coming home.

* * *

Blue Does – Blue October

Beneath the scorching heat of the sun, looking out across rock as red and hot as an oven, Benjamin Barker can't remember England. He can't remember how a cold winter rain feels on his skin, how the damp would seep into his bones and cause him to shiver even beneath the thickest blankets. He can't remember his home.

But he remembers Lucy.

Her smile. Her touch. Her beautiful hair flowing down her back like a waterfall, and how he would drink of her so deeply because he was and is and always will be thirsty. He remembers her.

For now.

* * *

A Few Honest Words – Ben Sollee

If she's honest with herself, Nellie has no hope.

After five years, it shouldn't be so hard just to give up and admit that she's alone in the world. The evidence is overwhelming. Nobody tries to tell her otherwise... because there's nobody there. Maybe if there had been, she wouldn't run to the window of her shop with her breath caught in her throat every time she hears footsteps, praying for a glimpse of a familiar face. Of Barker's face, which appears so often in her dreams.

If she's honest, she has nothing to live for. But she has to try.

* * *

Downtown Song – Anberlin

There are nights – although few and far between – where Nellie's empty bed holds a visitor. She's careful about it, of course, picking and choosing the most respectable ones. The richest. And only when the larders and her stomach are empty.

There was one she almost liked, once. He would bring her baskets of food. Made it seem less like a job and more like a choice. Sometimes they'd even talk. He'd ask about her health. But he was an enlisted bloke, and a few months later, he shipped off to the Russian War.

Now he's dead, and she's still lonely.

* * *

Bring Me To Life – Thousand Foot Krutch

Everyone has a dream in Australia, if they can muster up the energy. If a prisoner could stay awake for more than five minutes after the candle goes out – and not many can – he would hear the hopeful murmurings of the convicts. Some have realistic goals: they want their pain to stop, for their backs to heal, their seeping gashes to finally turn to scars. They want food. Others don't: they want to be kings.

They want to escape.

So does he, but Benjamin Barker is no fool. Anymore. He knows nothing comes without a price. He sees sacrifice on the horizon.

* * *

Mad as Rabbits – Panic at the Disco

Sometimes she – Lucy Barker Lucy Barker is her name once upon a time it was – has her moments of Lucidity. And they are utterly terrifying.

Because in those moments, she can see her madness spread before her like a terrible fog, and she _knows_ what terrible monsters lurk within that impenetrable haze. In those moments, she can see herself falling apart at the seams, her pretty face cracking and turning her into a – and there is no money, either. And her dress is not pretty.

And Ben is gone.

Ben was her favourite dog. He had wings.

She misses him.

* * *

Ordinary World – Red

Everything he once knew has gone away. Memories of something as simple as an ordinary Thursday afternoon, struck from his memory like a false record. Like an erroneous life sentence. He is alone, but being alone stopped hurting years ago. He won't cry for the yesterdays gone by, or that everything beautiful in his mind is now twisted beyond recognition. In exchange, he has learned to survive.

Ten years does a lot for a man. It always makes him older. Sometimes makes him stronger.

Sweeney Todd knows that in another ten years, either he will be dead... or Turpin will.

* * *

What It Feels Like – FM Static

Nellie has experienced, in a life that seems far too short and yet feels like it will never end, the full range of human emotion. Grief, joy, fear, agony, love. She is prepared for anything that comes her way – all she needs to do is wait. And waiting is something she is very very good at. She's been waiting as long as she can remember. It's not like she's had a choice.

But one day, something will happen. Ben will come home.

And if he doesn't, she'll keep waiting anyways.

Sometimes she thinks it's the only thing keeping her alive.

* * *

Home – Three Days Grace 

He's going home. But not to the one he remembers – because he remembers nothing but a gleam of silver and a flash of yellow hair. And even if it is the same, even if his wife and his daughter have somehow escaped the passing of time and hardship and remain as perfect as wax figures, he will only be dragging blood and shadow across the threshold. They can live in the same house, on the same street, with the same chatty landlady burning pies downstairs, and Sweeney Todd knows he will always be alone.

No doubt it's better that way.

* * *

Worst Pies in London – Sweeney Todd 

She sees him as a customer first. The moment he walks through the door, she has a plate and a pie and a glass of ale ready for him. Her mouth is chattering away – she hasn't seen another person in weeks – and then she sees him as a man. Quiet. Attractive. Dangerous. She knows dangerous men when she sees them. She thinks it suits him better than a fine set of clothes ever could.

Familiar.

She sees him as a customer, and as a man – and then with her heart beginning to spin and her dreams materializing – as her saviour.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** These drabbles are set quite soon after Todd returns. They represent a kind of adjustment period in their relationship. I imagined it'd be a big learning curve, so here's my take. ^^ Hope you enjoy.

**

* * *

**

Through Smoke – Needtobreathe

Nellie can see recognition in his eyes, if only a glimmer. It smoulders in the back of his gaze, packed tightly behind pain and disbelief and confusion. And when he looks at her –getting him to do even that is no easy task – it seems like he's staring through a haze that keeps him from seeing who she really is. How much he means to her. How _long_ she's waited for him. Instead, all he can see is that crib in the corner, and his wife's pretty face reflected in his razors.

But fog can't last forever, even in London.

* * *

Watching Over Me – Thousand Foot Krutch

He doesn't need a mother. He doesn't need a watchman, a wife, or whatever it is she tries so hard to be.

He doesn't need her pity.

He feels her gaze on him whenever he steps into the room, watching his every move. Her eyes, impossible to escape, sting like nettles lashed to his back.

She brings him food. Blankets, when the night grows cold. She comforts him with lies, tells him he looks stronger, healthier every day.

She smiles at him.

But he is more demon than man, and she must know he does not need a guardian angel.

* * *

Two Worlds – Phil Collins

He treats her as if she knows nothing of pain. As if she needs to learn, and he is the one to teach her. He neglects her, he ignores her, and he fixes her with a stare that condemns her for her ignorance.

He may think they lived on two separate worlds for the last fifteen years, but they were both citizens in the same neighbourhood of earthly hell. He suffered whips and shackles. Sun and blood.

She endured starvation, funerals, and an eternity of being alone.

He's only just returned – but they've lived together since the day he left.

* * *

Adelaid - Anberlin

She tells him things she thinks he wants to hear, sends him signals (subtle winks, half-smiles and good-morning notes tucked under his bowl of porridge) she hopes he wants to see. She brings him food when she thinks he wants to eat, blankets when she thinks he wants to sleep, and sits him in front of the fire when she thinks he needs company.

She's terrified of being alone. He wraps himself in solitude.

She cannot tolerate silence. He never speaks.

He wants nothing but for her to go away. And he wonders what will happen when she finds out.

* * *

Solar Powered Life – The Classic Crime

When the sun comes out, light drives the shadows away.

Without the shadows, she can see the dirt and the cracks. But cracks can be repaired, and dirt is no match for a mop and a bucket of soapy water. The sun is a taste of hope, a taste of the sea. After fifteen years, she can finally enjoy it.

She scrubs the counters, the tables, the floors and walls, until the kitchen shines like a diamond. She pulls out a bowl, flour, rolling pin.

She will make the best pies in London once more.

All she needs is meat.

* * *

Story of a Boy – Between the Trees

Sweeney Todd has never been in love.

He doubts if the thing even exists, wonders if it's nothing more than a quickened heartbeat and the once- exhilarating feeling of skin on skin.

Even so, he remembers the story of how it happened. Their chance meeting at the park, her by the fountain with a book of poetry, he busting past on his way to the shop. When her shawl dropped, when he picked it up... when their eyes met. It's a story of a boy who knew no better.

He closes her photograph and picks up his razor, tired of pretending.

* * *

I'm With You – The Stills

Sweeney's world must be a terrifying place to live. With everyone locked outside, any attempt to approach looks like a charge, a siege. Every person is an enemy, armed to the teeth and basked in the light of his blood-red moon. Sometimes she almost thinks she can see it reflected in his eyes.

Which is why she plans to slip by his defences unnoticed. Slip beneath his walls, bide her time. And when he finds himself alone in his citadel, when the light is soft and the time is right, and he is alone... she will be alone with him.

* * *

Lock and Key – Sandra McCracken

Sometimes he looks at her, and he can see desire in the back of her gaze, tightly coiled around her heart like a venomous snake. He recognizes it, because sometime he feels it too.

But sometimes he looks at her... and sometimes she is sad. The pain fills her eyes, drowning her gaze, and she looks away. The moment passes; she smiles again.

The tears are not for her. She says she is never alone if she stands next to him. She says she wants to unlock his heart and take his pain.

She cries because he refuses to listen.

* * *

Masterpiece Theatre I – Marianas Trench

She stands in his shop for the fourth time that day, drawn to him like a moth to a flame. The agony of being away from him tears at her flesh, but standing close bites to the bone. Her hand reaches out, independent; her mouth works without consent.

Her every move – every word – is a part learned by rote, the product of fifteen years of dreams turned real. She has rehearsed her life for this purpose, but if he asks, she will destroy everything and start again. If she collapses, it makes no difference.

She already burns at his hand.

* * *

If – House of Heroes

If things were different, Sweeney Todd could love her.

He knows this – and he accepts it will never be.

If he could block the sounds of screams and whips from the back of his mind, her smiles would flutter his stomach instead of twisting it. If the judge's face was not the first in mind as he awoke and the last to leave when he closed his eyes, her touch would send shivers down his spine. Her continual chatter would drive him to joy instead of burning his ears.

If he didn't hate her, he would be head over heels.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading! Also, for any readers of ITDBY, I'm sorry I'm taking so long. I was on vacation for almost three weeks, and before I post this upcoming chapter (which is finished and just in need of editing), I want to make sure my next chapter is almost done, so I can make sure my approach is right and everything stays on course. I don't want to post it, realize I need to go another direction, but already be committed to the first. I should have it up in a week or two, however, and the next chapter close behind. Hopefully this can tide you over. Much love! ^^"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **The first three drabbles of this chapter are specifically devoted to Bloody Pumpkinhead, who drew an AWESOME picture of Freddie (from ITDBY) for me. I'll post the link up on my profile. ^_^ THANKS SISSI. -lessthanthrees-

* * *

Gone With the Sin - HIM

Once, the two of them had been beautiful.

Although the sight of her made his heart quicken, she had seen better days. Just as ridged scars hadn't always laced his skin, in a distant life hers had been smooth, free from calluses and the smell of death.

And surely her hair hadn't always been a matted nest, intent on ensnaring his fingers – just as Barker's hair had been tame, lacking wildness and a streak of white memory he could never escape.

But those days were far behind them now.

They had traded beauty for an uneasy alliance and inescapable damnation.

* * *

Pain – Three Days Grace

At first, the news of Lucy's death ate through him like a weevil, sewing rot and creeping blackness wherever it touched. It left him raw and bleeding, spiralling out of control, awash in feelings he long-since banished.

And then it stopped. The pain, the agony, the ache – whatever had wreaked such havoc with his senses – misted away faster than a midmorning dew. It left him standing alone in a desert wasteland, where the sand met a never-ending horizon and only the renewal of pain could offer any hope for escape.

The renewal of pain, and the bittersweet promise of revenge.

* * *

Hate Me – Blue October

He wishes she would hate him.

For a while, he does everything in his power to convince her. He drags her down the list he had never visited with Lucy: ignoring her, screaming at her, driving her back to the wall with a razor at her throat. Hating her with every ounce of energy he can muster and hoping it will catch.

It doesn't. She still traipses up the stairs with her tea-tray, not even bothering to hide the bruises darkening her arms. If she was smart, she would hate him.

If he was smart, he would love her.

* * *

Misguided Ghosts - Paramore

Nellie Lovett is a wanderer.

One could argue she's lived on Fleet Street for over half her natural life, or point out she was born less than five blocks from her shop, or mention that in over three and a half decades she's only been out of the city a handful of times, and never for longer than a week.

But even if her body was bedridden, her mind would be traipsing across the country; splashing in the sea; riding the tides to distant shores; losing itself in the smell of tea and spices and wonder.

At least until morning.

* * *

2 AM - Poema

Lost in thought when she should rightly be sleeping, Nellie wonders where she went wrong.

_Per'aps if I 'adn't laughed right then_... or _if I 'adn't been so bloody flabbergasted_ _when he turned around_ ... (looking more beautiful than she could bear in the light of the setting sun)... this or that, here or there, in little ways and little mistakes, she risks losing him forever.

So she sets her mind to probing his desires, attempting to become the woman he can't resist.

It's a pity the only woman he really wants is Lucy –and that's the one thing she can never be.

* * *

Another Song About the Weekend - Day To Remember

Her past screams of fallen potential. Not that there was ever much – but she can see disappointment in the eyes of the men and women who've known her the longest. All they can see the toll this barber has taken on her, the circles under her eyes, and the gaunt frame of a woman wasting away from the inside.

When Toby looks at her, he sees none of what she's squandered. He sees an angel, or perhaps a victim – and either way, his optimism is a catching fever. His smile reminds her how good it feels to be believed in.

* * *

You Could Be Happy – Snow Patrol

"_Adopted 'er like 'is own. You could say it was good luck for 'er... almost."_

What if Lovett was right?

Surely, even the vile judge could not resist a cherub smile, could not remain unswayed by golden hair and eyes blue as the midsummer sky.

Johanna could be living like royalty, surrounded by jewels and silks. She had been Todd's world – but he was less than a faded memory. How could an infant life above a pie shop ever hope to compare?

For a few glorious moments, he imagined Johanna could be happy.

And then Anthony stumbled, horrified, through the door.

* * *

Volcano – Damien Rice

She knows he'll never need her like she needs him – never _love_ her with even half the burning passion she devotes solely to him. She should be content. She's never more than a hands-breadth away from his side, and when the fancy takes him they are so endlessly closer than that.

It isn't as if he promises her more. He seems to do everything he can to tear down her fantasies. Even before she builds them he kicks them over, a child stomping on her castles and kicking sand into her face.

And through it all, she hears the sea.

* * *

Deaf – Jon Bryant

He'd never admit it to a soul, but Sweeney Todd is terrified.

He's terrified of routine, of complacency settling over his life – terrified because complacency will become contentment and he'll lose the burning hollow pit of revenge that drives him ever forward. He's terrified of a happiness deep enough to scrub of Lucy away like a bloodstain from his memory. He's terrified of discovering a beauty he won't be willing to trade for Turpin's life. He's terrified because love always brings loss.

Which is why, if Eleanor Lovett truly loves him, she'll let him walk the road to destruction alone.

* * *

Beside You Now – Marianas Trench

Her bones ache from a long day of work. Her spine feels twisted out of shape, and her feet hurt like she'd walked for miles instead of spending the day behind a counter. Her eyes prickle and burn with sleep, no doubt red as a drunkard's, and a hundred disoriented, nonsensical words swirl around in her brain. She feels about as attractive as an earwig.

She changes into a nightgown and lets her hair down, while Todd watches – smiling – from the armchair in the corner.

He promises to stay.

For the first time in weeks, she sleeps through the night.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey everyone. ^^ Long time no see. How's it going? xD

I figure since I've effectively fallen off the face of the earth these last few months, I owe you a bit of an explanation and update of my life. And if you don't care, don't read this. xD

The main reason I haven't been around is because I was doing a 2 year writing course, and I had until Dec 1st to finish it. I DID finish it, last Tuesday, but when I checked my progress in October, I realized I was 11 lessons behind. Which = approximately 60-80 hours of work, and meant that if I didn't devote all my spare time to working on it, I would fail. So any spare time after school and work was poured into my writing course. Pretty much the only things I had time to work on were drabbles and the occasional oneshot, which I'm hopefully going to start polishing up and posting. Starting with these.

I also have another project lined up, but I'm not completely sure how much I can/should say about it at the moment, until I get working on it a bit more... but I basically plan for it to be my one last huzzah to the ST fandom before I take off to write my own original fiction more seriously. So keep an eye out within the last few months and hopefully I'll have some more news regarding that.

ANYWAY. I'm off to work on the paper I've been avoiding all afternoon. Peace out.


End file.
